OUR WORK

AND ITS
IMPACT
B
Millions of British children
live in poverty.
Only one in three is likely to
achieve basic school grades.
Yet twice as many of their
wealthier peers do so.
This gap is not only unfair,
it’s unacceptable.

1
CONTENTS

03 14 34
We are Teach First Strengthening the The opportunity
teaching workforce ahead

04 18 38
Why we exist Creating a pipeline Our supporters
of leaders

08 24
Helping schools and Developing leaders
pupils achieve results across society

10 28
Lighting up classrooms Helping students to
beyond the capital succeed after school

2
WE ARE TEACH FIRST

Since Teach First was founded as a charity
in 2002, and with the generous backing of
countless supporters, we have been challenging
the deep‑rooted reality that a child’s socio‑economic
background is the biggest determining factor
in their chances of fulfilling their potential.
We do this by:
Working in partnership with thousands
of schools, businesses, universities and other
not-for-profit organisations who are equally
impatient to improve the life chances of children
living in low-income communities, we aim to:
• Narrow the gap in literacy and numeracy
at primary school.

• Narrow the gap in GCSE attainment

at secondary school.

• Ensure young people develop key strengths,

including resilience and wellbeing, to support
high aspirations.

Finding and developing talented
people to teach and lead in schools
where the need is greatest
Building a movement of
teachers, school leaders, social
entrepreneurs, policymakers and
business people committed to
ending education inequality and
galvanising them to effect change
• Narrow the gap in the proportion of young
people taking part in further education or
employment-based training after finishing
their GCSEs.
• Narrow the gap in university graduation,
including from the 25% most selective
universities, by 8%.

The gaps in these areas are not closing quickly

enough and as a result, inequality persists and
social mobility stagnates.

The transformation of London’s schools has

Developing a range of programmes
for young people living in low-
income communities to help them
reach as high as their talents allow
Empowering schools to access
targeted social innovations and
partnerships that accelerate their
pupils’ progress
proven that change can happen. But to reach
the day when no child’s future is limited by their
background, there is so much more to be done.
Will you help us to power the change?
3
WHY WE EXIST

When we began our work, many
people said it would be impossible
to change things. Yet by working
with thousands of brilliant teachers,
schools and partners, we’ve
built a movement of leaders who
are changing lives in classrooms,
schools and across society.
However, despite fantastic progress, young
people from low-income communities still
find doors closed and paths to the top
repeatedly blocked.
Teach First alone cannot achieve our vision
of a day when no child’s educational success
is limited by their socio-economic background.

That movement is growing in numbers and In this report you’ll find out how, by working with
impact every year. We have now trained more like-minded partners and supporters – those
than 10,000 teachers and placed them in more who also refuse to accept that disadvantage
than 1,700 schools throughout England and determines destiny – we are raising school and
Wales, where they have reached more than pupil performance, strengthening the teaching
one million young people. workforce, driving social mobility and developing
leaders across both education and society.
In 2002, London was the one of the worst places
for children from low-income communities to
be educated, with schools struggling to attract
and retain high-quality teachers. Our flagship
Leadership Development Programme – which
places and supports trainee teachers in
the schools that need them the most –
was developed to tackle this problem.

In less than two decades, in partnership

with schools and universities and thanks
Only 1 in 3
children from low‑income
to vital funding from our supporters, we have
communities achieve
achieved some incredible things.
the expected levels in
reading, writing and maths

4
WE HAVE ACHIEVED
SOME INCREDIBLE
THINGS ...
• Within our first 15 years,
over 10,000 graduates
signed up to our
flagship teacher training
programme.
• We’ve helped to transform
schools in London (where
we’ve placed over 5,000
teachers since 2003)
from being one of the
worst‑performing areas
in England to the best-
performing area, and
we are now working to
replicate this success in
every part of England and
in Wales.
• Teach First is the only
teacher training route with
published evidence of
a direct link between our
teachers and improved
GCSE results.
• We’ve received national
and international
recognition for the quality
of our flagship teacher
training programme.
• 28 alumni of our teacher
training programme have
now become headteachers.
• The majority of Teach
First teachers remain
in the classroom after
completing our two-year
training programme.
They are also three
times more likely to stay
in schools that serve
low-income communities.
• Teach First teachers are
seven times more likely
to be in senior school
leadership positions.
• 85% of pupils on our
university access
programme “Futures”
successfully progress to
university; the same rate
of progression as pupils
from independent schools.1
• Schools who work with
us, rate us highly. Our
most recent survey of
headteachers in our
partner schools revealed
that more headteachers
than ever (89%) are likely
to recommend Teach First
and 92% believe that our
trainees make a valuable
contribution to their school.
BUT THERE
IS STILL MORE
TO DO ...
• Only one in three
All statistics
teenagers from low-income
referenced
communities achieves good without a
GCSEs in English and maths, source come
from internally
compared to twice as many
sourced data.
teenagers from wealthier
backgrounds. 1
Note that
the Futures
• Only one in three programme
children from low-income is academically
selective.
communities achieve the
expected levels in reading, 2
writing and maths.2 Impossible?
Social mobility
and the seemingly
• Twice as many children from unbreakable
the wealthiest areas attend class ceiling,
Teach First, 2017.
an outstanding school,
compared to those living in
poorer communities, where
five times as many schools
are rated “Inadequate”
by Ofsted.2
• Disadvantaged pupils are
almost twice as likely to
find themselves no longer
in education, employment
or training after they
finish school.2
• 24% of pupils eligible for free
school meals progress to
higher education, compared
to 42%of non‑free school
meals pupils.2
5
6
“I’M LUCKY TO HAVE TEACHERS WHO HELP
ME REACH MY FULL POTENTIAL ... I THINK
THEIR TRAINING AND THEIR MOTIVATION
HAS HELPED INSPIRE MY OWN AMBITION
TO DO MY BEST.”
Teach First pupil

7
HELPING SCHOOLS AND
PUPILS ACHIEVE RESULTS
The biggest predictor of a child’s
chances of future life success is their
academic results. Yet the biggest
predictor of whether a child is likely
results of pupils in Teach First partner schools
to those in similar schools without them 3
Here a “good”
(including those that partnered with us at a GCSE refers to
later date). At a school-wide level, they found a grade C or

to achieve good results is still linked that a GCSE student in a school with our above achieved
in 2015/16. Under
to where they happen to have been teachers improved by one grade overall across the new GCSE
born. Teach First is the only teacher their eight best GCSEs. syllabus this most

training route with published evidence closely equates to

a pass mark of 4
of a direct link between our teachers Perhaps more significantly, the report also or higher.
and improved GCSE results. concluded that the presence of Teach First
4
teachers “raises the teaching standards
Matched panel
Only one in three teenagers from low-income of those who teach alongside them in the data estimates the
communities passes five good GCSEs,3 including same department”. impact of Teach
First on school
English and maths, compared to twice as many
and departmental
of their wealthier peers. A significant factor in By analysing the GCSE results of departments performance,
this is that pupils living in wealthier communities before partnering with Teach First, the study Allen and
Allnutt, 2013.
are more likely to attend a school that has found that some departments were achieving
a higher quality of teaching and leadership. GCSE grade performances that were 9% lower
than other departments within the same school.
Independent research carried out by the Yet after partnering with Teach First, these same
Institute of Education4 found that schools lower-performing departments then went on
working with Teach First improved their to outperform their counterparts by 16% within
GCSE scores. Researchers compared the two years.

8
 “WE’VE BEEN WORKING
WITH TEACH FIRST
FOR SEVEN YEARS.
THE DIFFERENCE THEY
MAKE IS HUGE.”
Headteacher, West Midlands

It is therefore very likely that our teachers are pupils agree with the statement ‘The teacher
5
not only having a direct impact by improving never gives up on me’ and 79% of pupils agree
Pupil Impact
their pupils’ results, but may also be helping with the statement ‘My [Teach First] teacher Results 2015/16,
to raise the overall standard of teaching within sets me challenging work’. Teach First
(expected
their schools.
progress refers
Teach First is committed to exploring and to two National
In addition to independent data, Teach First developing these research techniques in order Curriculum
sub-levels as
carries out its own research into the impact our monitor the progress and wellbeing of our
measured prior
teachers are having in the classroom. Our ‘Pupil pupils as accurately as possible, and to ensure to 2016/17).
Impact Data’ employs a range of innovative our understanding of our teachers’ impact is
research techniques to monitor the progress, as comprehensive as it can be.
motivations and aspirations of pupils who have
Teach First teachers. While this research is still
in its infancy, early results from our anonymised
‘Pupil Progress Tracker’ are promising,
suggesting that pupils taught by secondary
teachers on our programme make above
nationally-expected progress every year.5

Similarly, our early ‘iKnow My Class’ online

pupil survey results are also encouraging, with
over 45,000 pupils engaging with the survey
annually. The latest data reveals that 74% of

16%
Previously underperforming
departments outperformed their
counterparts by 16% within two years
after partnering with Teach First

9
LIGHTING UP CLASSROOMS
BEYOND THE CAPITAL
Teach First is immensely proud
to have played a leading part in
London’s educational transformation.
However, challenges still exist in
communities that simply don’t have
access to the same opportunities and
networks available to those in the
heart of the capital.
For years, London was one of the worst-performing
areas in the country in terms of outcomes for pupils
from low-income communities. Today, it is one of
the best-performing areas. Independent research
carried out by the Education Development Trust
(formerly the CfBT) and the Centre for London
identified Teach First as one of four key factors
in this transformation.6
7%
of all teachers working in
inner London’s low-income
communities are Teach First
trainees or former trainees
10
• Today, our trainees and former trainees
account for 7% of all teachers working in 6
Lessons from
schools serving low-income communities London schools:
in inner London. investigating the
success, CfBT
& Centre for
• Nearly 900 former Teach First trainees London, 2014.
are currently working in middle or senior
leadership positions in London schools. 7
Level 2 and level
3 attainment by
• 57% of the capital’s young people on free young people
aged 19 in 2015,
school meals leave school with basic school
Department for
grades. This compares to 41% of pupils from Education, 2016.
similar backgrounds across the rest of England.7
However, our success in London’s secondary
schools was just the start of our journey. The
face of educational inequality is changing and
the schools facing the greatest challenges
are increasingly spread across the country in
what have been coined social mobility ‘cold
spots’. These are the areas that don’t tend to
attract talented individuals to teach and lead
in their schools, and where other support and
opportunities may be lacking. We are already
targeting our work here, and will increasingly
shift our focus to these communities of greatest
need in the years ahead.
We’ve been working with schools outside the
capital since 2006. Within ten years of this
expansion, two thirds of our trainees were
teaching in schools outside of the capital –
up from 50% in 2011. We began partnering with
primary schools in 2008 and now work with
schools in every region of England and in Wales.
Crucially, we now place our teachers in schools that
are truly at the coalface of educational inequality,
2003
with our trainees committing to teaching wherever
the need is greatest. It is in these areas where our
teachers can make a lasting difference to the
future of young people. 

Therefore, it’s in these cold spots where

our teachers are making the biggest impact.
Headteachers leading schools in these areas
are more likely to report that their Teach First
teachers have a more positive impact on pupil
outcomes compared to other trainees in more
connected areas.

2016

Placement of Teach First trainees

Number of trainees

11
 TOM BEVERIDGE
FROM CITY TEACHER
TO RURAL HEAD
Tom Beveridge loved living and
teaching in London after completing
Teach First’s training programme,
but after swapping the capital for
the West Country, he is now Head
of The Dean Academy in Lydney,
Gloucestershire.
“When I took on the headship of a school in a small,
run-down Gloucestershire town in September
2016, the school was in special measures, the
student roll had fallen and there had been a high
leadership turnover.
But the biggest problem it had was the recruitment
and retention of teachers: Lydney is a 19-mile
drive from Gloucester, 40 miles from Cardiff and
25 miles and a toll bridge fare from where I live
in Bristol. Yet I could see that the school and its
students had such enormous potential.
12
My first year at the helm was incredibly
eye‑opening with many ups and downs.
But we have had some encouraging inspections
and are about to welcome our third and fourth
Teach First trainees.
So how do we prise more successful teachers
away from the cities and into more isolated
areas? It’s easy to see why some people
hesitate – after eight years of working in London
schools I certainly did. But, when it came down
to it, I returned to the fact that the young people
here deserve a better deal. And my fears about
working here turned out to be unfounded –
the school is only 35 minutes from my home
in Bristol.
Schools in isolated communities like this need
our support. And, often, they’re not as far away
as you think.”
13
STRENGTHENING THE
TEACHING WORKFORCE
Since our inception, Teach First has recruited
and placed over 10,000 teachers in the Schools are our most important
country’s most challenging schools in every customers. And the schools who
area of England and in Wales. While our work with us, rate us. Our most
teachers currently account for around recent survey of our partner
5% of the total number of new teachers headteachers revealed that
trained in England every year, they account more heads than ever are likely
for around 20% of the total number of newly- to recommend Teach First:
qualified teachers working in schools serving
low‑income communities.

WORLD-LEADING
TEACHER TRAINING
At the very heart of Teach
First’s approach is our two-
year Leadership Development
Programme, through which
we recruit and train talented
individuals to teach and
lead in the country’s most
challenging communities.
Delivered in close partnership
with universities and schools,
our training was graded
‘outstanding’ by Ofsted in 41
out of 48 categories. This result
followed our latest inspection
in 2015, which took our early
years and primary work into
consideration for the first time.
Inspectors highlighted the
significant impact that Teach
First, our university partners
and teachers are making in
transforming schools.
92%
The latest figures also show
that 91% of our trainee teaches 89% believe that our
trainees make
achieve Qualified Teacher are likely to a valuable
Status, and 99% of those who recommend contribution
qualify achieve a ‘good’ or Teach First to their school
‘outstanding’ grade.

14
 “TEACH FIRST PARTICIPANTS ARE THE LEADERS
OF THE FUTURE AND SHOW COMMITMENT TO
THE LONG‑TERM FUTURE OF THE COMMUNITY.”
Headteacher, Yorkshire and the Humber

While we’re proud of the

national recognition our
Leadership Development
Programme has achieved,
our ambition has always been
for our training and support
to become world-leading.
In 2017, we introduced the
biggest changes to our
training programme since
its foundation in 2003, after
winning a competitive contract
from the Department for
Education. The changes were
informed by years of studying
global research and reviewing
feedback from Ofsted and
our trainees, school and
university partners.
The new programme – through
which our teachers work
towards a new two-year
Postgraduate Diploma in
Education (PGDE) – fully
integrates teacher training
with leadership development.
It provides trainees with
an enhanced support and
mentoring structure to further
aid retention, improve the
success of our teachers and
ultimately improve outcomes
for children. Increasing the
rigour and specialism of our
teachers, the new PGDE
qualification is worth double
the academic value of a
standard PGCE and enables
it to be easily topped-up to
a Master’s Degree, further
boosting the attractiveness
of teaching.
The new programme has
been designed and devel-
oped with innovative and
academically-demanding
university partners. By
encompassing the very
best global research in
how to train teachers, the
new programme provides
our teachers with an even
greater understanding of
the key skills they need.
We’ve increased the focus
on classroom and behaviour
management, assessment,
and planning, to ensure they
are more classroom-ready
than ever before by the
time they start as full-time
teachers each September.
Providing good return on
investment for schools and
for the public is incredibly
important to us and the
new programme offers
even better value for
money. This has enabled
us to deliver a 15% saving
to government compared
with our previous contract.

15
RAISING THE PROFILE
OF TEACHING

We believe teaching is a life-changing Out of our most recent intake of trainees …

profession, and we are proud of the role we’ve
played in helping to challenge and transform its
reputation into a top career choice.

In 2003, our Leadership Development

Programme entered The Times Top 100
Graduate Employers list at number 62. Within
15 years, teaching in low-income communities ——— ———
became the fourth most prestigious career 40% were the first in their 25% attended a Teach First-
choice for new graduates, making us one of the families to go to university eligible secondary school
biggest graduate recruiters in the country.

But just because our programme attracts

highly talented graduates and career changers
doesn’t mean that our teachers don’t reflect
the communities they serve. Indeed, we are so
passionate about our belief that an individual’s
background shouldn’t limit their potential that
our assessment process is carried out on a bias-
free approach. This means that our recruiters ——— ———
never see the names, socio-demographic or 15% were from black and minority 22% were eligible for Educational
educational profile of our applicants until they ethnic groups – twice as many as Maintenance Allowance
are invited to our rigorous assessment centre. the current teaching workforce and/or free school meals

——— ———
9% identified as Lesbian, Gay, 16% told us they had
Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT) a disability

16
LAURELL MILTON
FROM TEACH FIRST
PUPIL TO TEACH
FIRST TEACHER
How do you go from being a teenager Loads of my pupils still can’t believe I grew up
who hates English to the deputy head in Peckham, just like them. They’ve grown up
of a school’s English department thinking that the options open to them after
in less than ten years? Teach First school must be limited; after all, you don’t hear
teacher Laurell Milton has done just successful professionals speaking Jamaican
that, and is now teaching pupils in the Patois. I try and help them to understand how
same corner of south London in which they can apply their experiences and talents to
she grew up. a whole range of future education and career
options; after all, that’s what I had to do. So
“I always thought I hated English. It wasn’t until having this shared experience has really helped
after my GCSEs that, with the help of some great me to help them.” 
teaching and a Teach First mentor, I realised
how English is relevant to so many different
subjects and I ended up studying History and
Literature at the University of Essex. 

As I approached graduation, joining Teach First’s

training programme to help other young people
fulfil their potential seemed like the natural next
step, and I started as a trainee English teacher
at Harris Academy Peckham in 2014.

It’s undoubtedly the most challenging thing

I’ve ever done, but I love the pace of the work,
I’ve developed so many skills and I am never,
ever bored.

17
CREATING A PIPELINE
OF LEADERS
Teach First believes that strong Teach First
8
leadership is fundamental if we want The careers
every child to have the opportunity to of Teach First

reach as high as their talents allow. Ambassadors

who remain
in teaching:
By building a movement of leaders job choices,

who are committed to ending promotion

and school
educational inequality both inside quality, Allen,
and outside of the classroom, Parameshwaran

we know we can change things. and Nye, 2016.

Alternative
training route

After three years in the classroom,

Teach First teachers are twice
as likely to teach in schools
where at least 55% of pupils
receive free school meals
compared to teachers from
other training routes8

18
BEYOND TWO YEARS

Teach First teachers commit to

teaching for at least two years,
but the majority remain in the
classroom for longer. Crucially,
evidence shows that our
teachers are twice as likely
to stay in schools serving
low-income communities
three years after embarking
on their careers.
——— ———
Because our programme 58% of our former trainees are 66% of those in teaching teach
inspires a lifelong commitment currently working in a teaching role in schools serving low-income
to ending educational communities, where recruiting
inequality, we are beginning to teachers is hardest
see a trend of former trainees
taking a break from teaching
before returning to the
profession later in their career.

———
63% of those who have completed
our teacher training since
2003 stay in the classroom for
a third year
———
Over a third of our former trainees
who are now headteachers
returned to the profession after
gaining experience elsewhere

19
DEVELOPING LEADERS IN
THE SCHOOLS THAT NEED
THEM THE MOST

Research carried out by According to a National

9
McKinsey on behalf of Teach Association of Headteachers
The School
First and Ambition School survey, over 30% of adverts for Leadership
Leadership revealed that, headteacher positions in 2015 Challenge

28
2022, Teach
by 2022, schools facing the received zero applications.
First, Teaching
greatest challenges may need Leaders and The
up to 10,000 more middle and Of our 5,627 former Future Leaders
are now
senior school leaders; this trainees... Trust, 2016.
headteachers
is equivalent to one missing
leader in every school in
a challenging context.9

280
are in senior leadership
roles in schools

and 1,885 1,135

others are still teaching are in middle
leadership roles
in schools

20
Teach First actively
encourages its trainees to
take up school leadership

20%
positions once they complete
the programme, and we
run a dedicated ‘School
Pathway’ scheme designed of our former
to support and accelerate 2003–2010
their progression into school trainees who
leadership positions. are currently
teaching
Salary data also suggests that have spent
Teach First teachers are taking time gaining
on additional responsibilities experience
and more middle leadership outside
positions, earning an the classroom
average of £3k and £6k more
than their counterparts by
years 3 and 5 respectively.8

Independent research shows that former Teach

First trainees are seven times more likely to be in
senior leadership positions in schools than teachers
following other routes into teaching8

Teach First Alternative training route 22

4
2
0 1 0
Headteachers Deputy headteachers Assistant headteachers
21
 MEI LIM
RETURNING TO THE
CLASSROOM TO GIVE PRIMARY
PUPILS A HEAD START
After completing Teach First’s teacher
training programme, Mei Lim spent
a few more years in the classroom
before moving overseas to pursue
her academic studies. But it was
those very studies that drew her back
to the UK and back into teaching –
and teaching an entirely different
age group.
22
“After completing the Teach First programme in
2008, I spent a further four years in secondary
schools before moving to Berlin to study a Master
of Public Policy degree. During my studies I
realised that, if I wanted to have the greatest
possible impact on children’s lives, I needed to
go back into teaching and switch to the primary
phase, because this is where you can really shape
the whole course of a child’s educational journey.
I joined Weyfield Primary Academy in 2014 and
was appointed Headteacher in 2016. The school
serves a disadvantaged community where there
are above average numbers of pupils with special
educational needs and who speak English
as a second language, and many experience
challenging circumstances at home. It is therefore
a real privilege to lead a team of professionals
who are committed to changing these children’s
lives, cultivating in them a lifelong love of
learning and ensuring they have opportunities
to develop as young people and make positive
choices about their future. In an increasingly
challenging environment it’s important not to
lose sight of the bigger mission of addressing
social disadvantage.
Having access to a network of Teach First
headteachers has been invaluable for this very
reason and I feel so empowered and lucky to be
able to work alongside them towards achieving
our common goal.”
FIONA MCGREGOR
FROM TEACH FIRST
TRAINEE TO ASSISTANT
PRINCIPAL IN SIX YEARS
Fiona McGregor had never even
heard of Hartlepool when she was
allocated her Teach First school there
in 2011. But after proving herself as
a talented leader in the North East for
over five years, the area is now well
and truly her home.
“When I received the phone call from Teach
First to say they had placed me at a school in
Hartlepool, I knew it was going to be interesting
as I had never even heard of the town. I’m from
Scotland, and my initial plan was to head back
there after completing my two years on the
programme, but I decided to stay on to see
my pupils through to their exams in Year 11.
north to Gateshead. It meant taking a major
demotion, joining Thomas Hepburn Academy
as a science teacher, but within six months I’d
been promoted to Assistant Principal. And that’s
the thing about Teach First partner schools;
there are so many leadership opportunities for
the right people with the right ideas, and you’re
really pushed and supported to succeed.
The North East itself is such excellent area
to live in; with a fantastic mix of beautiful
countryside and vibrant cities, there really
is something for everyone here.”

During my time there I benefited from numerous

Teach First CPD and mentoring sessions, in
addition to attending their school leadership
retreat and taking part in their School Pathway
scheme. Thanks to these opportunities, when
a quick succession of leadership opportunities
presented themselves I was well-placed to make
the most of them. By the time my class reached
Year 11, I was also their Head of Year, leading
a staff of 30 within the school.

I loved Hartlepool, the school and its students,

but in 2017 I couldn’t resist the opportunity to
take on a new challenge within another crucial
Teach First community, and headed further

23
DEVELOPING LEADERS
ACROSS SOCIETY
Educational inequality is too
deeply‑rooted a problem for teachers
and school leaders to solve on their
own. To have the broadest impact,
we believe that there needs to be
a pipeline of socially-motivated leaders
who are working across society to
push for change from all directions.
Having taught in schools for at least two years,
our teachers have witnessed first-hand the many
injustices of socio-economic disadvantage. Teach
First is committed to giving its former trainees our
support, but our focus is on those careers which
can have the most impact on contributing to our
work to end educational inequality.
22%
Teaching –
leadership
116
31%
20%
Business
Teaching
375
243
2005/06 2006/07 2007/08
Total number of former trainees per year
24
In addition to the School Pathway scheme for those
committed to staying in teaching, we offer support
for those interested in working for vision-aligned
charities, social enterprises, education policy and
research. Hundreds of former trainees have already
been given additional support as a result of these
initiatives, giving them access to a range of events,
work placements and shadowing opportunities to
develop their skills and further their careers.
By supporting our former trainees in this way,
we are helping to create a pipeline of socially-
motivated leaders who are excellently placed to
remove the many barriers to social mobility that
frustratingly persist in our country.
As the number of teachers who
complete our training programme
swells year-on-year, so does the
collective impact they are having
in a range of relevant careers 2,248
in the classroom and beyond
1,793
1,252
869
624
2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13
 5% 9%
Study & other Voluntary and
support to schools
EFFECTING
16% CHANGE
5,481
Business
OUTSIDE OF THE
CLASSROOM
former trainees

26% 9%
Teaching – Other career
leadership pathways

34%
Teaching 4,563

3,839

2,974

Thousands of our former trainees

remain in the classroom, but many
others now work in all manner of
influential roles across all areas
of society.

Some have, with the support of the Teach

First Innovation Unit, founded new charities
and game-changing social enterprises which
tackle the challenge of educational inequality in
a variety of ways. In 2016 alone, over a quarter
of a million young people benefited from one
of Teach First’s supported social enterprises. 

Other Teach First alumni continue to address

2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 the problem through their work in government,
business and other not-for-profit organisations.

25
 PATRICK CURRY
USING CLASSROOM
EXPERIENCE TO
INFORM POLICY
Midway through his time on the
Leadership Development Programme,
Patrick Curry was offered a civil
service role, which he took up upon
completing his teacher training.
26
“I loved the buzz of teaching a class, but
when I was offered the civil service role I saw
it as a good opportunity to see things from
a different perspective.
Since joining the civil service I’ve worked in
numerous roles across the Treasury, Downing
Street and, now, the Department for Education
where I’m Deputy Director of the Education
Funding Group.
My experience in the classroom – and as
a school governor – has been really valuable
throughout, providing me with motivation and
perspective of what you’re trying to achieve and
helping teachers to do the best possible job.
I’m part of the Department for Education’s
internal ‘teachers’ network’ along with other
former Teach First teachers, which acts as a
sounding board for the policy team when they
want insights from those who’ve worked on
the ground.”
ENABLING ENTERPRISE
TEACH FIRST
INNOVATION PARTNER
Former Teach First trainee and
social entrepreneur Tom Ravenscroft
spotted a vital skills gap among
his business students when he
began the Teach First programme.
With the support of Teach First’s
Innovation Unit, he successfully
scaled his unique enterprise-based
teaching approach beyond his
own classroom.

“I hadn’t even heard the term ‘social

entrepreneurship’ before Teach First sent
me along to a lecture on the subject.
It was 2009 and I’d been teaching in a school
in east London for two years on the Teach First
training programme. I’d gone into the job with
what I now realise was a naïve assumption that,
in addition to developing academic learning
skills, my students would also be developing
the interpersonal, communication and problem-
solving skills they would need to be successful
after school.
But when it became a struggle to even get my
students to put their hands up in my class to
suggest ideas, I quickly realised this wasn’t
the case, and that there was a huge gap in my
students’ readiness for life. So I developed a new
approach to teaching to help my pupils build
these skills and gain valuable experiences in
as rigorous a way as other academic learning.
We combined regular enterprise lessons with
trips to employers, supported by lots of teacher
training and tools to help assess and develop the
enterprise skills of students.
When I won an award for my work, Teach First
helped me to see that I might be able to turn
my ‘enterprise skills’ approach to teaching into
something that could benefit students beyond
my own classroom.
They sent me along to that lecture, supported
me to attend a training programme and gave
me access to role models, advice and support
structures that most social entrepreneurs
could only dream of. Enabling Enterprise was
formally established in 2010 and, as a Teach
First Innovation Partner, we now work with tens
of thousands of students in hundreds of schools
all over the UK every year, connecting them to
dozens of employers. We are currently building
a network of like-minded organisations in order
to embed these enterprise learning techniques
at a systemic level.”

27
HELPING STUDENTS
TO SUCCEED
AFTER SCHOOL
Training great teachers and leaders chances of reaching as high as their talents
is vital, but there are many other allow remain limited, purely because of where 10
Progress made
ways that young people from they happen to have been born. by high-attaining
disadvantaged backgrounds can children from

be helped to fulfil their potential. Only 11.5% of children from low-income disadvantaged
backgrounds:
Supporting pupils to make confident backgrounds who achieve level five in English research report,
decisions when they leave school – and maths SATs tests at age 11 make it to an elite Crawford,

and empowering teachers to support university. If they progressed at the same rate as Macmillan and
Vignoles, 2014.
their pupils to make these choices – a child from one of the least-deprived families,
is hugely important. that figure would be nearer 40%.10

It would be easy to assume that, if young people
succeed at school and get good grades, they
should be able to go on to achieve anything they
want. But, unlike their wealthier peers, when a
poorer young person does well at school, their
This is why it’s so important to provide a range
of support to schools and young people to
remove these barriers, and make sure they have
access to the opportunities, advice and support
to fulfil their potential.

The difficulty young people from low-income communities face in

accessing opportunities is why only 4% of doctors, 6% of barristers,
11% of journalists and 12% of solicitors have working-class origins

4% 11%

6% 12%
28
PROVIDING STUDENTS WITH THE
ADVICE AND SKILLS THEY NEED
It’s clear from the statistics that giving young
people a fair chance in life isn’t just about
grades. Whether a young person chooses to
go on to study a degree in history, undertake an
apprenticeship, become a vet, train as a dental
assistant or start their own jewellery business,
they require the knowledge and skills to get
there, and to help them thrive and succeed
once they do get there.
Yet the reality is that careers and employability
education still lacks the kudos, priority and
resources it so desperately needs, and 69%
of businesses think secondary schools aren’t
effective at preparing young people for work.
Thankfully, because of the generous
contributions of our supporters, we are
able to pioneer initiatives to tackle this
problem. Teach First launched its Careers
and Employability initiative in 2015, to focus
“THE PROGRAMME COMPLETELY OPENED MY
EYES TO HOW I – AND EVERYONE AT THE
SCHOOL – CAN BEST SUPPORT OUR PUPILS
TO THINK PRACTICALLY ABOUT WHAT THEY
NEED TO DO TO REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL
AFTER THEY LEAVE US. THE SCHOOL’S
ENTIRE CAREERS PROGRAMME HAS BEEN
COMPLETELY REVOLUTIONISED.”
Non-Teach First Teacher who took part in our Careers
and Employability Leadership Programme
on the distinct role of teachers and the needs
11
of pupils from low-income backgrounds.
Teachers and
Careers: The
The most intensive element of our work is role of school
teachers in
our Careers and Employability Leadership
delivering career
Programme, which aims to transform careers and employability
and employability provision in schools by learning, Hooley,
Watts and
training middle and senior leaders to design,
Andrews, 2015.
implement and lead a whole-school careers
and employability strategy.
Research shows that the schools with the
best careers provisions have strong buy-in
and strategic direction from senior leadership,
enabling a truly whole-school approach to shape
careers guidance in schools for many years to
come.11 The Careers and Employability Leadership
Programme, which is currently being expanded
after a successful pilot, exists to both create these
careers leaders, and to raise the quality and status
of careers provision and leadership.
29
BRIGHTER
FUTURES
The road to gaining a place
at a good university, beginning
a career, embarking on an
apprenticeship or progressing
to another post-school
pathway is a difficult one for
any young person to navigate.
However, young people from
poorer families are three times
more likely than their wealthier
peers to find themselves
without such opportunities,
because there are significant
barriers standing in their way
from the very outset.
The university access gap
is stark:
• 24% of pupils eligible for
free school meals progress
to higher education,
compared to 42% of non-
free school meals pupils.12
• 1 in 20 disadvantaged
pupils go on to a Russell
Group university – less
than half the proportion
of other pupils.13
30
• While a private school
student has a 1 in 20
2,000
chance of gaining
Over 2,000 young people
a place at Oxbridge,
have benefited from the
state school students
Futures programme
from disadvantaged
backgrounds have just
a 1 in 1,500 chance.12
• Even when young
people from low-income
backgrounds do well
at school, they are still
less likely to get a place
at the most prestigious
universities. Among those
with the GCSE grades
to access Russell Group
universities, there is a
6.8 percentage point
gap in progression rates
between poorer pupils
and their wealthier peers.12
40
Since 2011 we’ve helped
40 young people to
secure an Oxbridge place
through our Oxbridge
Support Programme

Graduates from low-income
backgrounds continue to face
disadvantages despite making it
as far as higher education, earning
on average 10% less than their
wealthier peers14
With the backing of our
supporters, one of the ways
Teach First prepares young
people to overcome these
hurdles is through our Futures
85%
of Futures pupils
successfully progress
to university – the same
rate of progression
as pupils from
independent schools1
Programme, which is aimed
at young people from groups
traditionally under-represented
at university. This includes
pupils with parents who have
not attended university, or
those who have claimed free 12
State of the
school meals. Nation 2016,
Social Mobility
By connecting disadvantaged Commission, 2016.
pupils with experienced 13
mentors to guide them Destinations
through their options, the of key stage 4
and key stage 5
programme helps a young students: 2015,
person to make informed and Department for
ambitious decisions about Education, 2016.
their future, secure a place on 14
the route that is right for them Research Paper:
and possess the skills and Private Pay
Progression,
mind-sets that will help them Sutton Trust, 2015.
succeed throughout their lives.
Across all those employed
in top jobs three years after
graduation, privately-educated
graduates earn £4,500
more than their state school
counterparts.14
39%
of those attend a Russell
Group university –
higher than the rate
for non‑selective
state schools1
31
 SARA HARB
“TEACH FIRST LEVELLED THE
PLAYING FIELD FOR ME”
When Sara moved to England from
Jordan aged just six, she couldn’t
speak a word of English. As her
frustrations in the classroom grew,
her behaviour plummeted and she
was almost excluded from school.
Yet now she’s studying history at
the University of Oxford. Here’s how
she got the help she needed to turn
things around.
“When I was six, my father secured a job in
England. It was an exciting time for our family,
but when I arrived at primary school I couldn’t
speak a word of English.
32
Learning a new language was incredibly
difficult, so when I couldn’t understand what
teachers were saying I thought I was stupid and
I began to misbehave, to the extent that I was
nearly excluded.
But my teachers saw beyond my behaviour
and recommended me for Teach First’s
Futures programme.
You can imagine my surprise when my Futures
mentor suggested I apply to Oxbridge. No one in
my family had even applied for university before,
so we were totally unfamiliar with the system and
I was really scared about being rejected.
But it began to seem like a real possibility when
I was given the opportunity to visit Oxford to
gain a real experience of life at university, and
I realised I had nothing to lose. So I applied and
I got the place!
I did the work and I deserve the results, but
Teach First levelled the playing field for me,
providing me with insights I would otherwise
never have had the opportunity to gain and
challenging me to aim higher and believe
in myself.
I’ve got big goals for the future. I’d love to
become a human rights lawyer, and maybe one
day become an MP, to fight injustice and help
others less fortunate than myself.”
33
THE
OPPORTUNITY
AHEAD
It takes time, persistence and
determination to change the story
of a child’s life. It can start with the
dedication and leadership of a great
teacher who inspires a child to work
towards the future they want. But to
have a truly transformative impact
on the lives of young people living
in low-income communities, the
support mustn’t end there.

Over the past 15 years, through Teach First

programmes, activity and support, we have
trained an entrepreneurial force of over 10,000
diverse leaders. This increasingly influential
movement has worked with colleagues to
pioneer solutions to educational inequality in
classrooms, schools, public policy and business
that all challenge the notion that disadvantage
determines destiny.

Teach First is incredibly proud of the progress

we have made along with all our partners
since 2002, but there is so much more to be
done. We believe we are at the tipping point
of achieving something extraordinary.

34
IN THE COMING YEARS
Teach First is incredibly proud of the
progress we have made since 2002, but
we believe we are at the tipping point
of achieving something extraordinary.
In the coming years, with the continued
support of governments, schools,
universities, businesses, foundations
and philanthropists, we aim to:
• Build our movement of teachers and leaders who
refuse to accept that disadvantage determines
destiny. We will equip them with the skills to be
effective in the classroom, and develop as leaders
who can tackle educational inequality across all
areas of society.
• Extend our reach into communities where social
mobility hurdles are the highest and deepen our
existing partnerships with schools in areas of
high deprivation.
• Work with our partner schools to increase
attainment and support all pupils to reach
their aspirations. We will achieve this by
increasing access to higher education and
employment through our programmes such
as Futures, and the Careers and Employability
Leadership Programme.
• Support and develop even more people who
have completed the Teach First Leadership
Development Programme to progress to
leadership positions in schools facing the most
significant challenges, as well as within charities,
policy and social enterprises.
• Empower schools in disadvantaged
communities to develop strong and effective
whole-school approaches to leadership,
because experience and research shows that
schools built around a single extraordinary
leader struggle to sustain their success.
• Mobilise our ever-growing community
of teachers, schools leaders, social
entrepreneurs, policy makers and business
people to act to end educational inequality,
and ensure they are all more committed
than ever before to making education
fair. Therefore, in addition to recruiting
more teachers, we will seek to better
support and connect our alumni community,
enabling talented, vision-aligned teachers
and former teachers to work together to
achieve extraordinary things in the classroom
and beyond.
• Heighten public awareness of educational
inequality and social mobility issues to ensure
that the need for every child to get access to
a brilliant education is at the forefront of the
minds of the most powerfully-positioned to
effect meaningful change.
• Ensure that we have the resources
and individuals we need to achieve all of
these goals, and therefore grow our impact.
To do this we need to secure support
from government, businesses, individuals
and foundations who share our vision of
a better education for all children.
35
36
 “MY TEACHER WORKED REALLY HARD TO
GET TO KNOW HER STUDENTS, AND THAT
WAS WHEN IT ALL STARTED TO CHANGE.”
Former Teach First pupil and university graduate

None of the incredible things we’ve

accomplished since 2002 would have been
possible without the passion, dedication and
commitment of every single one of our teachers
and their colleagues who’ve supported them
every step of the way. But, while training great
teachers is at the heart of our work, they need
support, connections and programmes to tackle
the complex problems caused by poverty and
educational inequality.

Teach First has ambitious plans to accelerate

progress and grow and develop innovative
solutions to combat these issues. Achieving
significant growth in voluntary income through
our network of dedicated supporters and
funders is critical to our progress, alongside
strengthening our work with governments
and like-minded institutions, organisations
and universities.

With the future becoming more uncertain and

ever-changing by the day, our work to transform
our country into one that offers every young
person a fair chance of success is more relevant
and urgent than ever before.

We know that achieving everything we need to

achieve will be a challenge. But we also know
that, with the right support, anything is possible.

37
OUR SUPPORTERS

Our work and its transformative Transformation Lone Pine

impact on disadvantaged young Partners Foundation
people would not have been possible Accenture NatWest
without the support of our partners. Citi PA Consulting
Their generosity and expertise have
Credit Suisse Prudential
enabled us to found and develop
innovative programmes, expand into Deloitte PwC
new areas and ultimately help over Goldman Sachs The Queen’s Trust
a million children since 2002. HSBC Rolls Royce plc
Royal Navy
Platinum
The Sackler Trust
AKO Foundation
Shell Centenary
Bank of America Scholarship Fund
Merrill Lynch
Siemens
Barclays
SSE
Bloomberg LP
UBS
Burberry Foundation
Vodafone
Civil Service
Clifford Chance
Gold
DHL UK Foundation
Careers and
DONG energy Enterprise Company
Education Endowment Dangoor Education
Foundation
Edge Foundation
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
Independent
Fidelity UK Foundation Franchise Partners
Garfield Weston Moondance
Foundation Foundation
Google National Apprenticeship
The Huo Family Foundation Service
J.P. Morgan National Grid

38
Oliver Wyman Costa Coffee
PZ Cussons
Quadrature Capital
Freshfields Bruckhaus
Deringer LLP SUPPORT FOR
Temasek
Thales
GKN plc
Gowling WLG LLP
OUR LEADERSHIP
The Waterloo
Foundation
The Institution of Engineering
and Technology
DEVELOPMENT
Wellcome Trust
The Wolfson
The Kirby Laing Foundation
The Liz and Terry
PROGRAMME
Foundation Bramall Foundation
Metail We would like to thank our university
Silver Neil & Emma Cosgrove partners for playing a vital role
British Army Paul and Looby Crean
in the delivery of our Leadership
Development Programme and
BP Procter & Gamble UK enabling our participants to
The Eranda Rothschild Rothschild and Co maximise their impact on the lives
Foundation Slaughter and May of young people from disadvantaged
The Green Foundation communities in England and Wales:
TVML Foundation
The Haberdashers’ United Utilities plc
Company Bath Spa University’s Institute for Education 
University of Cambridge
John Laing Birmingham City University
Western Union
Charitable Trust
Canterbury Christ Church University
Winton Philanthropies
Jupiter Asset
The Worshipful Company Cardiff Metropolitan University
Management
of Butchers Northumbria University
KPMG
The Worshipful Company
Mishcon de Reya Sheffield Hallam University
of Goldsmiths’
PDT Partners UCL Institute of Education
The Worshipful Company
Rothschild Foundation of Innholders University of Manchester
salesforce.com Yorkshire Young
Sparx Achievers Foundation Our work, and its positive
impact on children and young
Bronze people, wouldn’t be possible
without the support of:
Allen & Overy
Ashurst LLP
National College of Teaching and Leadership
Bank of Ireland
Department for Education
BlueSky
Welsh Government
Bright Network
Capital Group
Charles Wilson &
Rowena Olegario

39
teachfirst.org.uk

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